The Relevance of Bargaining in International Politics: Power, Proximity, and Uncertainty in Interstate Conflict

Date
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Event Sponsor
The Munro Lectureship Fund and The Lane Center
Speaker

Professor Gartzke

 

 

Biography
Professor Gartzke’s area of study involves the impact of information and institutions on war and peace. What leaders and others know or believe is a key determinant of how nations behave and interact. International politics is a minimally hierarchical environment in which negotiations and bargaining are the primary form of political interaction. The study of international peace and conflict amounts to identifying the sources of bargaining successes or failures among nations and other groups.
He applies bargaining theory, rational choice institutional theory, concepts of power and social identity, and statistical analysis to four substantive areas of interest:
 
 
• The Liberal Peace: he argues that economic development and free markets account for the observed peace among developed liberal states.
• International Institutions: Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are most likely to function by forging commitments and revealing information.
• Diplomacy: International politics is primarily conducted through diplomacy, yet strangely rigorous scholarship has all but ignored the subject. A theory of diplomacy is the essential component of understanding world politics.
• The System: While a generation of research studied dyads, the system has unique attributes and effects and is uniquely relevant to IR research